August 16, 2009

Caitlyn is into nonsense, especially nonsense that rhymes or alliterates. She rattled off a string of it this evening while we waited for dinner to be served (Galway Bay in Ocean Shores - these are good potatoes!), then looked over to me and announced, "It's funny the first time."

See, she's also into repeating things that get a laugh out of people. Giggle the first time she says something and she'll repeat it til your head explodes. We've been telling her that just because something is funny the first time, it's not funny after that.

Of course, random nonsense for no good reason (that I can see - I'm sure she had one) wasn't funny, so I explained. "It's funny the first time, if it's funny. But just because it's the first time you've said it, doesn't make it funny."

August 12, 2009

Until the Industrial Revolution came along and turned children into cheap labor, children were the opposite: valuable labor. Either they helped out on the farm... or they helped their masters, and in turn their masters taught them a skill by which they could eventually make a living... Adults and children worked together, and there wasn't such a huge gulf between them. Not that children were considered mini-adults, unloved and exploited. Just that children were expected to rise to the adulthood all around them, not stew in adorable incompetence. (emphasis mine)

August 10, 2009

Late start to the day - catching up on sleep after the weekend! Hooray for birthday parties!

Mondays are chore days: water plants, do laundry, etc. Odd that this Monday didn't also include make yogurt or bake bread. We picked beans from both the back yard and the P-Patch plot, as well as tomatoes. Made a garlicky roasted corn soup - must remember to add some notes to the cookbook regarding the extra garlic and onions that went into the soup this time. It's a lovely, creamy thing - just right for a cool and almost rainy dinner. Also cooked down some Japanese plums (they taste a bit like plum wine, but they haven't fermented yet) that were over-ripening in the fridge and made a thick syrup out of them.

Desperately trying to catch up on work and email before the weekend, when I inevitably get behind again.

Caitlyn is practicing setting up and cleaning up her own projects. She played with rubber stamps and paper flowers all by herself today. Still working on understanding the proper way to relate to the cat, though. Wasabi is not a pillow and doesn't appreciate being treated like a doll or like he's Caitlyn's baby tiger (she's the older sister baby tiger). He's really not crazy about having Caitlyn either follow him around (she copies him) or try to control his access to spaces by roaring at him.

We're also having lots of talks about trust, and how it's something you earn. Your parents will respect your privacy in the bathroom when we are sure that (a) you are going to the bathroom like we asked not just standing the in the bathroom and then coming out and saying you're all done, (b) you are completing all the necessary steps, and (c) you are washing your hands with soap, not just rinsing them off. You will get to play outside with your chalk when you can demonstrate that if the cat is outside with you, you won't try to relocate the cat by dragging him by his tail.